NAMESAKE

My name is Hans Christian Gonzalez.   I was named after the danish children books writer Hans Christian Andersen.  For me, it has always been striking to see people's reactions whenever I introduce myself to them.  Most find it odd that someone with a spanish accent like me has a name that is very popular for people living in Germany and Denmark.   Their reactions are natural and amusing at times.  But they reveal a fundamental characteristic of human behavior:  Our learned ability of gaining familiarity through association.

Imagine, if you can,  that every time you introduce yourself to someone,  the first thing that comes out of the person's mouth is "why is your name Fernando,  Roger, or Braulio, and then, after you've told them the familiar story that you told a thousand times, their react with an expression of disbelief, followed by the question: "but why?"  I can tell you.  At first, you find it amusing, but after a while, freaking annoying.  Just because I am dominican doesn't mean my name has to be of spanish origin.  It is true that one  meaning of culture refers to the behaviors and characteristics of a particular social, ethnic or age group being similar in nature.  But that doesn't mean that we should be regarded as photocopies of one another.

In gaining familiarity through mental association,  most of us fall into the trap of stereotyping.  It doesn't matter if we do it with countries, socieities, groups, individuals or personal experiences.  The impact is always the same.  The familiar feeling of thinking that we know something when we don't.  A feeling based on assumptions or personal opinion, not on facts, or actual experience.

Some argue that this behavior stems from our survival instics.  You have a positive or negative experience with someone or something, and the mind tells you that in every future event when a particular person that resembles that character or you are about to experience a similar experience,  the exact same thing is going to happen.  If the experience was painful,  we become afraid and forbid ourselves from getting to know that person, or experiencing such event.

The statement "All Americans think that Latin people are not to be trusted" is a stereotype.  "Lots of Americans think that most, if not all spanish-speaking people have spanish names" is not.   If a person
cannot comprehend why I was named after a famous danish chidren books writer,  I say that the person has a very strong steretype of spanish-speaking people.   Think about it!  Are latin people's education limited to books written only in Latin America?  Couldn't my parents know of famous European writers born in the 19th Century?  Or are we so ignorant that all we know is to play baseball, soccer, have amazing sex or deal with drugs?

It takes a lot of guts to allow ourselves the freedom of living moment-to-moment.  Finding comfort within our ideas, traditions and beliefs are just fear mechanisms that sound great to most people.   We even have festivals and organize events to celebrate our heritage and differences.  But the world is for the  person who is not afraid of leaving their comfort zone.  Of venturing to new territories, getting to know other cultures, languages and systems of beliefs.  The world is for the few ones  that celebrate the common similarities that exists among us all.  Thereby expanding their horizons, richness of experiences,  etc.

Thanks for reading,

Hans Gonzalez.  

Salcedo

Salcedo was a name of a town in the Dominican Republic.   So far, It has had three names.  

The first one was Juana Nuñes,  then Salcedo,  and now Hnas Mirabal.  

It was the birth place of the Dominican Republic's most historically important sisters:  

the Mirabal sisters.  In a time prior to the sexual revolution of the 60s,  these three

sisters formed a secret organization which intention was to end dictatorship of the country's deadliest man:  Trujillo.  

This post is not meant to be a historical account of my own town or to describe its importance in a grand scale.  Rather, I will describe how important it was for me, for the 12 or so years I lived there.  

Its size was notoriously bothering to most people.  The town center was only a few kilometers long, and a few kilometers wide.  You could actually walk from one side of the town to another and come back in little or not time.  It's main source of income in the time I lived there (1973-1986) was agricuture.   People from the country side would come down to the town to sell their foodstuff and in turn buy  clothes, and supplies from the different stores  in the city.   It was always buzzing with the loud noise of motor bikes, pickup trucks and and public passenger cars and vans.   People came and went from Tenares, Sfco de Macoris,  Moca, La Vega, Santiago, Puerto Plata, and Sto Domingo. 

I remember the students lining up at the different exit streets toward Moca and Tenares,  hitchiking to go study in the different college institutions that were located in the neighboring towns.   

It had several clinics, a public school referred to there as Liceo, and several private schools, the most important of which was the Catholic school Sra. Corazon de Jesus.  

When I lived there, the town had two huge movie theaters:  Cine Ritz and Cine Karina, each from the same owner, and each in facing each other at the town's plaza (Where the Main Catholic Church Temple is located).   One very modern discotec called Disco Sound,  a very nice restaurant/disco called a Druño,  my uncle's discotec called "El Tipico Salcedo" (Since it was the 70s, where Disco was so popular,  the dance places were then called discoteques.)  a Pizza place referred to as "la Pizaria.  A huge hall made of wood called "el club",  four gas stations.  Two very famous clothing stores,  la tienda Alexander (my father's store), and tienda Tono Coniel, which was in the same block of my father's store.  Even though Tono was my father's biggest competitor,  I don't remember ever meeting the guy.     The famous car dealer Almanzar, which everyone said got rich by making fake money, and a Sport Complex in the outskirts of the city  referred to then as "el complejo" where the town's youth went to practice sports during the day,  and where the cheap prostitutes went with their clients during the night.
It was called by many as "el hotel gramita (grass hotel, figure it out).  

Everyone knew each other, or knew of each other in Salcedo.   Gossip ran rampant.  You couldn't do anything without everyone  finding out about it the next day.   Tenares and Villa Tapia were two small towns, part of Salcedo that were both seven kilometers away.  Tenares to the east, and Villa Tapia to the south.  Moca was 11 kilometers to the west. and Santiago (Dominican Republic's second largest city)  just 30 kilometers away, or half an hour by car.  Tenares was more popular than Villa tapia and it was where the super famous HD disco was located.  Tenares was important because it was more in contact with its neighboring town Sfo de Macoris, which was back then the Dominican Republic third largest city and one of the richest in the caribbean.   Sfo De Macoris was notorious for being the birth place of so many Dominican drug lords.  It had the largest collection of Mercedes Benz and imported cars in the region.  To the point of being called "Little Germany."   It also had a lot of motels.  something that Salcedo, nor Tenares had.  

Salcedo is a very intoxicating city.  I remember it was very hard for me to leave to Santiago when my mother decided to leave.  It felt as though like home.  its streets,  its people,  its places,  its hideouts, were so familiar, so comforting, so safe,  that to leave it all behind felt like hell.  

This is the story of my home town.  It no longer is the town I left behind.   And now it has grown to be a bigger and more important place.  But the old town, that I saw while growing up, the one with its loud noise, unique festivals, colorful carnivals, and a lively christmas season.   It will forever be inside my heart.    

                                                        Colegio Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (El Colegio de las Monjas)

Hans Gonzalez

The Secret of Success is not a Secret

The secret of sucess is not a secret. It is a type of information that has been widely distributed; talked and written about in countless books, magazines, etc. It has even been shown in montion pictures, documentaries, television shows, and other media. The details have been practically given to us for free and yet, we haven't really grasped the full significance of it.

Anyone that thinks he/she lacks something, oftentimes tries to enrich himself with the knowledge that will allow him to escape their current situation into a more stable, and/or fulfilling state. Most of those books that we will pick up from the public library or book store during our lifetime are well-written, and extremely resourceful. However brilliant the books might seem, we'll continue to find ourselves picking up other books, assisting other seminars and later feeling completely empty inside. The particular feeling of lack will continue to perpetrate our meaningless existence and we will not ask ourselves why.

Every day and every night, we constantly create our inner and outer universe with the thoughts and with the words that we speak from moment to moment. What we think life is, our concepts, ideas, and convictions are our own creations. Every single thought we think, and every single word we utter have extremely powerful consequenses. Regardless of whether or not we have proof of what we say, think or do, these things are the stuff from which we create our seemingly meaningless existence.

The fact that we can excersise full control of our thoughts, words and actions is absolute proof, that we can consciously create anything that bring us joy, happiness and laughter. This is the crucial point. It is the most important of all points because it is the one we have failed to grasp as individuals and as a society as a whole.

When I was 12, I heard the notion that we live in the word of Maya, which meant illusion. I was always fascinated with that concept, but never really fully grasped what it all meant. The word of Maya is the word of illusion. The thought that we are powerless, insignificant beings, not fully capable of having absolute control of our existence. But the fact is, we have always excercised absolute control of our lives. We have always have. Every time we declare something, every time that we think something, however trivial, however insignificant, we create it and bring it into our lives.

Your thoughts create your feelings. Feelings are created in the mind; what we feel in our bodies is created in our thoughts. Feelings drive us to act and not to act. Feelings are extremely powerful things, and yet, we are not fully aware that they are the product of our thoughts.

Just listen to your conversations. Your limits are your limits, and only yours. Every time you say you can or can't do something, you bring that into existence. Every time you declare that life is good, or bad. Every time you say and think that things are hard or good, etc. For most of us, we take our immidiate surroundings as reference points from which we draw our thoughts and words. Not knowing, that what we see has been attracted to us with the thougths, words and feelings we experience on a daily basis. Every time we think of reality, we are not aware that we are are actually seeing is just the reflection of what we have created up to that point. Which is exactly why most of us are forever caught on creating and re-creating our current situation for the remaining years or decades of our lives.

Regardless of your current situation. No matter in what part of the world you are right now, what religion, creed, culture, doctrine you belong to. I am here to tell you that you are an extremely powerful being, capable of achieving amazing things. Think of it. Your world will change, when your thoughts and feelings change. No matter what surrounds you right now:

The problems, the debts, the lonelines, the lack. Decide right now that it is 100% your responsibility. And with that, you set in motion the wheels of fortune to your favor. Regardless of your decision, this has always been the case. Stop blaming what happens in your life to circunstances, people or events. When you do, you relinquish all sense of responsibility, and will be forever the subject to the whims of what might or might not happen. Which is in all sense, is directly related to your thoughts, words and actions. This is the world of illusion. Get out of it now.

Written by

Hans Gonzalez.

07/15/2010

Quinciañera

Last Saturday I was honored to photograph a Quinciañera ceremony at a church in Brooklyn, New York. A Quinciañera is the coming-of age-ritual held in some Latin American cultures of a girl's fifteenth's birthday, somewhat similar to a sweet sixteen celebration.

Being a father of a twelve-year-old daughter, I paid close attention to what unfolded before my eyes. A catholic mass was held in honor of the girl, she sat in a special chair right in front of the priest. At the end of the mass, both the mother and father performed the shoe and tiara ritual, signifying that their daughter was no longer a child, but a fully-grown woman.

I thought of my daughter Hannah, and three years from now, doing the same thing for her. While watching the parents in the audience witnessing the event, I imaged what was going through their minds: perhaps remembering the day when she was born, or when she learned how to walk, the first day in kindergarten, high school....

It was the last day of her childhood. Whatever they thought, it must have been very emotional indeed.

After the church, I accompanied the family to their home and took pictures of them and their loving guests. I took lots of pictures, and was impressed with with the love and harmony that surrounded me. It reminded me of the good things of life, of which, we often fail to acknowledge and fight for: closeness, love and harmony within our family. I had a great time.

Thanks for reading.

Hans.

Thinking Stuff

Becoming a full-time photographer requires a particular discipline, a sense of direction, and the desire and willingness to work hard in getting what is desired. Kind of like swimming against the current. It requires thinking.

It is true that no too many people practice the art of conscious thinking. What do I mean by that? Answering that question is the purpose of this post.

There are two kinds of thinking. The first one is the processing the information that is presented to us without any sort of effort in our part, like when we watch a movie. We see things and we come up with meanings and never question whether those decisions were right for us or not.

The second one is conscious thinking. Where we take everything that is presented, and examine all its details. Conscious thinking entails being awake and aware. It is the process of asking and answering questions.

By asking better questions, we can come up with answers that can empower us.

If you hate your job, instead of feeling sorry and waiting for things to change or somebody to quit or die (joke), ask yourself: what can I do to make this thing better? How can I get a better job? What sort of things can I do to move forward, etc. And wait and see, to your amazement, how everything that you needed to know comes up.

My question was, what I can do to make my career as a professional photographer a little bit more real?

One answer that came up was to file a fictitious business name, or "doing business as" It's just any sort of name other than your real name that you use to conduct business. To open a business checking account, banks need that little piece of paper. So last week, I went down to the court house and I filed for my fictitious name "The Golden Mile Productions" and this week I plan to open my first business account!

Thanks for reading.

Hans.

CAMERA TYPES...

I was born in the Dominican Republic; in a tiny little town known then as Salcedo (It has been renamed: Hermanas Mirabal). The Catholic temple shown here is the town's tallest and most important structure. It's symbol.

Since very early on, I was exposed to the world of photography through my mother. She loved taking pictures of us.

She married my father at fifteen years of age. Had her first daughter Maribel before 16. Biembenida came second at 18, me at 20, and finally my younger sister Rosa at 26. Most of my early memories of her smiling face are of her holding a tiny 110 camera that she used to take our pictures. An extremely popular 16mm point and shoot camera of the 70s and early 80s.

When I formed my own family in the late 90s, I followed the tradition and bought myself a consumer-grade 35mm camera. I took hundreds of pictures. I believe I was influenced by my beautiful mother to do just that. And I did. Anxiously recording everything for later days.

There are many camera types. The best known ones are the digital point and shoot cameras that come in all colors and mega pixel sizes. Those replaced 35mm film consumer-grade bodies of of the late 80s and 90s. They are called point and shoot because all you have to do is point and shoot, and you have your picture.

Other more advanced models are within the category of pro-consumer and professional. They come with better optics, and more buttons that allow more freedom for creative control. However, they are built with fixed lenses and do not provide as much creative freedom as the lesser known but more advanced SLR's bodies. SLR refers to Single Lens Reflex. What this just means is that what you see through the viewfinder or screen is what the lens is actually seeing, as opposed to the consumer grade 35mm ones that had one hole for the viewfinder, and one for the lens. SLR's best feature is the freedom using interchangeable lenses of different angles and lengths. This is the ultimate creative control.

There are several types of SLRs digital cameras. The professional SLR comes with a full-frame, 35mm sensor. They call them like that because most consumer-grade digital cameras on the market have a sensor size much more smaller than 35mm. To a digital camera, a sensor is what records the image. Because the technology is relatively new, that little electronic, light- sensitive piece of equipment is the most expensive part in the camera body. The bigger it is, the more expensive the camera.

Similar to a film camera, the size of the film is what tells you what format the camera is. A 35mm film SLR (or full sensor) camera is the standard professional format found on the market today. There are other formats, like the medium format camera, which is widely used in studio photography, and which film size/sensor is much larger than the 35mm one. A large format camera is the type of camera that has an 8x10 sensor/film size, and is mostly used for architecture and landscape photography.

Last but not least, regardless of what is said about which camera is best: the one that takes the picture is you. Our ability to see light and capture the best moment is what makes you and me a photographer. A camera is just an instrument, like a piano or a violin. Who we end up admiring is the one that took the picture.

Thanks for reading.

Hans Gonzalez.

Action and Reaction...

This blog is about my experience of becoming a full-time photographer. The process of having the guts, the discipline, dedication, determination and vision of setting a very meaningful goal, and see it come to fruition.

The last four years have been very rocky and confusing for me. My marriage of eight years ended sadly. Because of my subsequent depression and the worst recession since the last Great Depression, I was laid off from a job that I loved and cared for. Many people, familiar with my pictures, advised me to become a full-time photographer. In the middle of so many frustrations, and sudden life-changing events, I found comfort in knowing that I could make this enjoyable hobby, my main source of income.

However, I lost focus. I made the mistaken of thinking that being a photographer, was only about developing a good eye, and taking wonderful, breath-taking pictures. I did not set any goals, and spent most of my time, traveling to the Dominican Republic, and spending money like a lunatic. I did enjoy most of it, met a lot of wonderful people, and visited many wonderful places. It was all very new to me. However, I began to feel lack and desperate about my situation. I didn't have any job, and my back accounts were quickly drying up. I pushed a lot of people away, got another job, and the photographer career was put on hold. I said to myself: I have to figure things out. What I did was, to quit.

Everything I am experiencing now is the result of my actions. My emotions. My decisions. My limiting beliefs, the stories. Even though I knew that I was responsible for my own life. I couldn't possible make the connection and let feelings of frustration and confusion to dominate my thinking. Every action has a reaction. My inability to see the predict the reaction, or think about the consequences of my actions, brought me to a place where I had no power. Those who know me, know that I am always preaching about psychology, about philosophy. About the why of things. But the truth is, I wasn't practicing what I preached. I was extremely unauthentic about everything. It has to stop.

Attaining goals, is the simple process of setting them on paper, working on them, and see them realized. I will share with you that experience. Thanks for reading.